González's wealth made him the seventh richest man in Mexico, according to Forbes, but he came from humble beginnings. Born in the village of Cerralvo, in the northeastern state Nuevo León, González's grandmother raised him while his father earned money for the family in Texas. González sought to contribute what he could, and began running errands for neighbors when he was 5.

González continued working odd jobs into his teens -- whether it was selling vegetables or polishing shoes -- until his grandfather asked him which job was most profitable and told him to devote his time to it. Selling vegetables was González's answer, and from then on, he did just that.

Gruma got its official start in 1948, when González and his father invested in their first corn mill. The elder González served as the mill's engineer, tinkering with the devices in the facility, while the younger González focused on fostering sales at the soon-to-be global company.

Roberto González, Jr. was in Houston to receive cancer treatment when he died, The Wall Street Journal reported. His remains will be returned to Mexico this week so that he can be laid to rest in his native country.

"My condolences to the family and friends of Don Roberto González Barrera. I deeply regret the loss of an extraordinary Mexican businessman," Enrique Pena Nieto, the presumed president-elect of Mexico, wrote in a tweet in Spanish.

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Doritos Locos Experiments

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The Method: The one that started it all uses a proprietary taco shell-shaped Doritos chip as its wrapper, and comes swathed in a special cardboard holder to prevent Doritos powder from coating eaters' hands.
The Verdict: Very positive reviews all around; most agreed that the tacos had been improved by the extra salt and savoriness of the Doritos shell. The biggest complaint was that there wasn't enough Doritos flavor -- it seemed as if the seasoning had been tamped down vis-a-vis the normal chips. To solve this problem, we tried adding more Doritos in the middle of the taco. It didn't help.

The Method: We tossed crumbled Doritos into Cosi's signature salad, which contains mixed greens, gorgonzola and cranberries.
The Verdict: Pretty solid! The chips added some much needed saltiness and crunch to what is usually a sweet, mushy salad. On the other hand, the signature Doritos flavor didn't really stand up to the salad's vinaigrette and ingredients; almost any chip would have improved the salad. In the words of one taster, "Since there is blue cheese in the salad, it feels like the two are competing for attention."

The Method: Since we were too bashful to ask our Chipotle assembly line wrapper to crumble the Doritos into the middle of the burrito, we ended up stuffing it ourselves ex post wrappo.
The Verdict: Funny! But not good-tasting, sadly. One taster said that the pairing was "good texturally," but most agreed that the subtle, natural flavors of a Chipotle burrito clashed with the artificiality of Doritos.

The Method: Grind the chips into a powder, then shake them up with the fries to coat them evenly.
The Verdict: Possibly the worst of the pairings. One taster compared them to "dry cheese fries," while another noted that, "Ketchup does not go with Doritos." Blech!

The Method: Added whole Doritos on top of both the burger's beef patties.
The Verdict: Bravo! Most tasters agreed that this was almost as good a match as Eddard and Catelyn Stark on "Game of Thrones." (Full disclosure: they did not use a "Song of Ice and Fire" analogy to convey their enthusiasm.) One said, "The creamy sauce complements the crunchy texture of the chips," which, another added, "makes it more satisfying, because usually it's one-dimensional."

The Method: We stuck Doritos into the McNuggets, as our photographer put it, "like shards of glass."
The Verdict: These were divisive. Some tasters hated the combo, finding the McNugget flavor and texture overpowering. But others said that dipping the Doritos-adorned nuggets into barbecue sauce made for a revelatory melding of flavors.

The Method: Lay whole chips right up in the middle of the sub.
The Verdict: One of the better matches. One taster even called it "delicious," noting that salami and Doritos have mutually beneficial flavor profiles. Another taster, though, quipped that, "This does not taste discernibly different because normally when I eat a Subway sandwich I'm also stuffing Doritos in my face." (It's not clear that this was a criticism.)

The Method: Because we had three donuts, we decided to try a few things... we stuck them in as with the McNuggets, we stuffed them in the middle as with the Big Mac and we sprinkled their crumbs on top as with the Wendy's Fries.
The Verdict: Another divisive dish. Though one taster praised the Doritos donuts for their "nice cheesecake taste," others picked up artificial, bitter flavors that they said ruined the meld. Everyone thought they LOOKED awesome though!